One of the toughest things about the pandemic has been that social distancing means precisely that; we're staying away from the people we care about. It's not like we were spending every hour of every day out and about before, but we definitely had dinner with friends or stopped in to see family. That's basically a bad idea these days, so we've stayed indoors instead. Still, it means that we see less of our loved ones.
The flip side of that, however, is that we have tried to compensate by making use of technology. We frequently use the webcams so that people can see our faces while we speak with them. Whether it be to dial in to a work conference call, to attend a class, or even to say hello to folks, we've been using the cameras at our disposal on a much more frequent basis. It's not an exact one-for-one replacement, but it definitely helps.
One of the areas where this has led to some chuckles has been when talking to my sister and her kids. We've been trying to be good about keeping in touch with them, so we try to stick to a video call every week or so. It doesn't always happen, because sometimes the kids are sick or we're stuck handling some business of some sort that we can't get out of it. Still, it's been pretty regular lately, and we've managed to do a weekly call for a few weeks now.
During that time, our oldest nephew tends to get the lion's share of the time, because he's at the age where he can speak back to you and he finds all sorts of things interesting. We speak to my sister and catch up with her, too, but she tends to defer to her son when he has something he wants to say (note: he gets that need far more often than she does). We have shown him various things around the house, we sometimes cook while he watches, we play games, and we generally just keep each other entertained for a while.
Did you know that you can play hide and seek on a video call? It helps to have two adults on the hiding side of the call, so one can narrate and guide the process, while the other person legitimately tries to hide. You don't even have to hide in a particularly clever spot, you just need the narrator to be good about not pointing directly to where you are. That sort of defeats the purpose of the game. Heck, if you have a vase of flowers, you can also position the camera so that you look "around" the flowers to eventually "find" the adult who is hiding. It's all sorts of fun for the munchkin who is watching.
The Mild Wife and I discovered this on one of our calls, as we managed to play hide-and-seek and otherwise entertain our nephew for a couple of hours. Yes, you read that right: two hours. I didn't realize it in the moment, but we just sort of transitioned from him showing us one of his toys to playing hide-and-seek and then to drawing on a whiteboard. I'm positive there were other activities involved during that time, but by the time we got done, the Mild Wife looked at the clock and realized that two hours had passed.
I'm sure my sister appreciated something to keep her kids entertained for a bit, and we had fun catching up with everyone. Still, I was exhausted by the time it was over. I didn't really feel the fatigue in the moment, but once we hung up, the fatigue caught up with me. That is a long time to be performing, and I more or less just lay on the couch for a bit. The Mild Wife was in better shape than I was, so she just laughed and laughed. It was for a good cause, but, man, was I tired.
Given how it all went down, I can draw two morals from this particular story. First of all, the pandemic does not mean you have to be completely socially isolated. It's a bit trickier and you have to make some concessions, but it can be done. Secondly, and far more amusingly, babysitting is really freaking tiring. I wasn't even physically watching my nephew, but I still managed to tire myself out. Just imagine having to be a teacher and do this on a daily basis while still trying to impart knowledge.
What's more, I will also resolve to get more exercise and sleep more. I want to keep myself physically fit for the next video call. It might very well come in handy.
The flip side of that, however, is that we have tried to compensate by making use of technology. We frequently use the webcams so that people can see our faces while we speak with them. Whether it be to dial in to a work conference call, to attend a class, or even to say hello to folks, we've been using the cameras at our disposal on a much more frequent basis. It's not an exact one-for-one replacement, but it definitely helps.
One of the areas where this has led to some chuckles has been when talking to my sister and her kids. We've been trying to be good about keeping in touch with them, so we try to stick to a video call every week or so. It doesn't always happen, because sometimes the kids are sick or we're stuck handling some business of some sort that we can't get out of it. Still, it's been pretty regular lately, and we've managed to do a weekly call for a few weeks now.
During that time, our oldest nephew tends to get the lion's share of the time, because he's at the age where he can speak back to you and he finds all sorts of things interesting. We speak to my sister and catch up with her, too, but she tends to defer to her son when he has something he wants to say (note: he gets that need far more often than she does). We have shown him various things around the house, we sometimes cook while he watches, we play games, and we generally just keep each other entertained for a while.
Did you know that you can play hide and seek on a video call? It helps to have two adults on the hiding side of the call, so one can narrate and guide the process, while the other person legitimately tries to hide. You don't even have to hide in a particularly clever spot, you just need the narrator to be good about not pointing directly to where you are. That sort of defeats the purpose of the game. Heck, if you have a vase of flowers, you can also position the camera so that you look "around" the flowers to eventually "find" the adult who is hiding. It's all sorts of fun for the munchkin who is watching.
The Mild Wife and I discovered this on one of our calls, as we managed to play hide-and-seek and otherwise entertain our nephew for a couple of hours. Yes, you read that right: two hours. I didn't realize it in the moment, but we just sort of transitioned from him showing us one of his toys to playing hide-and-seek and then to drawing on a whiteboard. I'm positive there were other activities involved during that time, but by the time we got done, the Mild Wife looked at the clock and realized that two hours had passed.
I'm sure my sister appreciated something to keep her kids entertained for a bit, and we had fun catching up with everyone. Still, I was exhausted by the time it was over. I didn't really feel the fatigue in the moment, but once we hung up, the fatigue caught up with me. That is a long time to be performing, and I more or less just lay on the couch for a bit. The Mild Wife was in better shape than I was, so she just laughed and laughed. It was for a good cause, but, man, was I tired.
Given how it all went down, I can draw two morals from this particular story. First of all, the pandemic does not mean you have to be completely socially isolated. It's a bit trickier and you have to make some concessions, but it can be done. Secondly, and far more amusingly, babysitting is really freaking tiring. I wasn't even physically watching my nephew, but I still managed to tire myself out. Just imagine having to be a teacher and do this on a daily basis while still trying to impart knowledge.
What's more, I will also resolve to get more exercise and sleep more. I want to keep myself physically fit for the next video call. It might very well come in handy.
Comments
Post a Comment